


Once More, With Feeling

by ThoseDaysThatWill



Category: Men's Hockey RPF
Genre: Bits of fluff, M/M, Winnipeg Jets, bits and pieces of stories, end of season angst, the 18-19 Jets season is officially closed
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-27
Updated: 2019-04-29
Packaged: 2020-02-07 08:33:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,014
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18617005
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThoseDaysThatWill/pseuds/ThoseDaysThatWill
Summary: The Winnipeg Jets' 2018-19 season ended on April 20, 2019. Locker cleanout was April 22, 2019.There’s always that moment...





	1. Chapter 1

There’s always _that_ moment.

They’ve been through their turn in the torture chamber that was the media room. They’ve cleaned out what they need to clean out. They’ve done the internal interviews. And it’s time to leave. But no one is ready to walk out the door. Not quite yet. A few of them watched Leni giggle as she climbed over bags and wiggled under sticks, oblivious to the tone of the room. Even that doesn’t crack any smiles, though. A few of them looked around the room, wondering who will still be there come September. A few more wondered if _they_ will be there come September.

Blake broke the silence, “Do we want to get something to eat?” He asked the room.

Mark nodded but said nothing. The silence was deafening.  

Blake sighed, “Guys, can we—”

“Daddy, _I’m_ hungry.” Leni interrupted, tapping on Blake’s leg.

Without saying anything, Mark picked her up and sat her in his lap. She huffed once but looked up at him. Almost instantly, her face adopted the frown he was wearing, and she turned into his chest. He wrapped his arms around her with a sigh. “We’ll get you something in a minute,” he murmured softly to her.

“I don’t have the… _whatever_ … to be in public.” Ben was against the far wall opposite them, one foot up on the bench next to him. Leaning over to brace on his knee shadowed his face all the more under his cap. Sami sat on the bench, between Ben’s leg and the wall, his feet flat on the bench and his arms around his knees.

There was a general mumble of agreement to the sentiment.

Blake nodded with another sigh, “I get that.”

Ben didn’t look at him, but his tone was sharp, “Do you _really?_ You want to think about that?”

He took in a deep breath, “Benny, _don’t_.” There was no anger there, though, it was exhaustion, sadness, and whatever else they were all feeling that didn’t exactly have a word to describe it.

Ben held up a hand but said nothing.  

“He’s got a point, Cap.” Adam had been unusually quiet from the moment he walked in and absolutely no one had to ask him why. “Not being an asshole or anything, but you _don’t_ get it. You don’t _have_ to.”

A few eyes went a little wide, wondering if they were about to witness one of those things that the media just _wished_ they knew about. They loved to report about all the ‘unrest’ in the locker room, even if there was no such thing. Guys as close as they were, were bound to blow off steam at each other, but that didn’t mean anything.

With a sigh, Blake nodded, “You’re right. And I don’t, _right now_. But I _have_ been there.”

“With _who?!_ ” Adam couldn’t stop the words from coming out of his mouth. Out of the corner of his eye, he might have caught Bryan’s wince, but he ignored it.

Blake laughed, but there wasn’t any humor behind it, and he shook his head, “Well, I’m glad to know as I was dealing with all _that_ , it didn’t interrupt anything _here_.”

Adam glanced to Brandon, mouthing the words, ‘Should I know?’

Brandon shrugged, looking between him and Blake. After a moment, he whispered, “Probably,” and bit his lip.  

Adam looked back to Blake, “Uh… _recently?_ ”

He was about to answer when Bryan spoke up, “Let him off the hook.” He sounded exactly as tired as he looked.

Blake sighed, “I’ll tell you about it sometime, Adam.” There was the vague edge of threat to that sentence that nobody missed. They all spent the whole season in each other’s pockets but that didn’t mean they knew _everything_ about each other. For some of them, that was just fine, but others prided themselves on knowing what was going on with every single teammate’s personal life. Adam was the latter, and Blake knew it.

Silence hung for a long moment before Ben spoke, “I think… we’re just going to go home.”

“Why doesn’t everyone meet back at my house?” Blake suggested, “I think… I just think it’s not time to go our separate ways yet.” The fact that many of them were still hanging around the room was clear indication of that, but Blake had to be the one to say it. “No public, we can get pizza delivered, easy as that.” He watched as every head in the room turned to either his right or left, and silently assess his partner’s level of interest. It would have been funny if he’d been in that kind of mood.

Jake was the first to break the new silence that had formed, “We’re game.” A few side eyes were exchanged at that ‘we’, but no one had missed how his arm had been draped across Andrew’s shoulders since they sat down. Half the room wanted to ask, the other half already knew the story. But no one commented.

Bryan leaned in and whispered something in Kyle’s ear that made him actually laugh. He quickly stifled it and ducked his head down but nodded all the same. Bryan might have been smirking a little, but it was so subtle that most of them missed it. He looked over to Blake (who missed _nothing_ ) and nodded, “Sounds like a plan.”

Kevin, the only one in the room at the moment who had no one to share his decision with, shook his head, “I think I’m just gonna--”

“No.” Ben cut him off, “You’re just _gonna_ come with us.”

Kevin looked over to him with a sigh. He didn’t say anything, but there was a whole very long conversation in just that look.

Ben shook his head, “It’s not _your_ fault you like it here. They’ll _deal_ with it. You’re not the first one that’s happened to.” He didn’t mention what became of the _last_ guy that came to the team at the deadline and wanted to stay, but it did come into a lot of the thoughts in the room. “Just come with us.”

Kevin shrugged and sighed heavily, “For a little while.” He found a little smile, “If only to enjoy the fact I won The Bet.”

Ben’s eyes were barely visible under the brim of the hat, but he rolled them, nonetheless. No one in the room (not even Sami) knew what this bet was, and Ben wasn’t allowed to tell, but most assumed it had _something_ to do with their road trip in Arizona and baseball. “On _second_ thought…”

That got a laugh out of Kevin. The sound seemed to break the tension of the room like a spell. Shoulders dropped and slight smiles appeared, the murmur of private conversations allowed the feeling in the room to settle down. An agreement was made to meet up at Blake’s house in an hour, enough time to _attempt_ to ensure that nothing untoward would happen in his bathroom _again_. Though, they knew full well that nothing would stop that with _this_ many possibilities in one space.

~

Adam was sitting on the end of the bed, watching Brandon putter around their bedroom. He was usually the one with the nervous energy, but today he was just _tired._ He knew why they had been given the hour, but neither of them was in the mood. “Should we talk about it?”

Brandon shook his head, “I don’t want to.”

Adam sighed. He’d said the same thing every time he’d asked about it. And that was fair enough, because to be perfectly honest, Adam didn’t want to talk about it either. But he wanted the chance to remind him that he really could just take _whatever_ they offered in order to stay. Like he had last time. Even a year would be something. Not that he didn’t think Brandon was thinking that too, but neither of them had said anything out loud, and somehow to Adam, that meant it wasn’t real yet. Maybe it was _better_ if it wasn’t real yet.

But cleaning out their lockers together had _forced_ reality on them. Would it be the last time they were in that room together? The thought made Adam want to throw up. And it made him angry they had wasted so much time not being together. One season, one _real_ season together wasn’t enough.

“Do you wanna skip Blake’s thing?” He asked.

Brandon shook his head again, finally picking a gray long-sleeved shirt from the closet. “We should go.” He pulled the shirt over his head, and Adam didn’t miss the defiance in the gesture. Brandon made a point of wearing his shirts now, especially around the guys. Adam couldn’t say he minded. And it wasn’t like he was the _only_ one on their team that had been caught doing that.

He stood, wrapping his arms around Brandon from behind, holding him tight. He wasn’t _that_ much taller, but he just fit perfectly in this position. His voice was just a whisper, “Whatever happens, baby…” He took in a deep breath of his scent, “I just love you so much.”

Brandon sighed, leaning back against him, running his hands over Adam’s, “It’s going to be okay. I’ll make sure of it.”

~

“Sit down, idiot.” Patrik repeated for what seemed like the thousandth time.

Nikolaj sighed, but dropped back onto the couch, “I _can_ walk.” He wasn’t fast enough to sneak past his guard dog, but he kept trying. Not being _fast_ was the most frustrating part of any of this and the fact that Patrik kept catching him just reinforced that.

“You’re not supposed to.” Patrik dropped his hands onto Nikolaj’s shoulders from behind the couch, “You’re supposed to _sit_.”

Nikolaj sighed, tipping his head back to look up at him, “You’re hurt, too.”

Patrik took in a deep breath and used his most condescending tone, “ _I’m_ not broken, and _I_ didn’t try to fucking skate on a broken leg and not fucking _tell anyone_ including my own fucking _boyfriend_.”

“Am I going to have to hear this _all_ summer? I didn’t tell you because I didn’t want you to _fuss_. And look, you’re _fussing_. So, I was _right_.” Nikolaj was thinking about getting that speech as a recording so he could just press play every time he brought it up.

Patrik scoffed, “I wouldn’t have _fussed_. But I would have _helped_.”

Nikolaj rolled his eyes both physically and verbally, “You would have fussed. You always fuss. I hate fussing. _You_ hate fussing when it’s done _to_ you. But that doesn’t stop you.”

“ _Fine_.” Patrik leaned over the back of the couch and bit down hard on the side of Nikolaj’s neck, and before he could adjust to the sensation, he sucked hard on the same spot.

Nikolaj’s eyes went wide and a strangled sound burst out before he could stop it. “Fuck!” He stopped and caught his breath before he said something Patrik would throw back in his face later. “The fuck did you do that for?”

Patrik shrugged, “Looked good to me.”

“Did you leave a mark?”

Patrik chuckled, “Oh yeah.”

Nikolaj growled, “Fucking vampire. I’m _not_ going out hard. Get over here and fix it since it’s your fault!”

Patrik sauntered around the couch, letting his eyes wander over Nikolaj’s body, “You look good like that.”

“And you look good on your knees,” Nikolaj countered.

Patrik smirked, “If I do it… you have to wear my hoodie over there.”

Nikolaj leaned back against the couch, splaying his legs open, “ _Deal_.”

~

The one thing Nate hadn’t been prepared for when joining the Jets was how _weird_ they all were. Or how comfortable he would become with their weirdness. He might even have _liked_ it.

He wasn’t sure why he went back to his apartment after locker cleanout. He didn’t really like being there, he hadn’t made it a home yet. He didn’t know if he should bother. He had only signed a short-term lease. And now he didn’t know if he was supposed to sign a new one or start packing. He didn’t have a lot, it wouldn’t take long, but a big part of him didn’t want to. Despite the frustrations of the end of the season (he _hated_ watching hockey from the press box) he didn’t hate the idea of staying. And it wasn’t just the hockey.

 _Another_ reason was now sitting cross-legged on the island counter in his kitchen. He wasn’t sure why he’d invited Jack back to his apartment either. He’d never done that before, at least not in Winnipeg. Everything had been on the road, and that was fine. The fact that Jack _sat_ up on his counter after he’d offered to make them drinks, just added to his first though, that this team was _weird._

He handed a glass to Jack and took his own, leaning against the counter beside him. He ran a hand over Jack’s thigh, almost absently, as he sipped from his glass. “Why are you here?”

Jack stopped with the glass halfway to his mouth, “Because… you asked me here.”

Nate rolled his eyes, swatting his leg, “I don’t mean that, smartass.”

“Then what do you mean?” Jack took a sip from his glass and winced a little. Nate managed not to laugh.

He shrugged, “You didn’t tell me you had a _thing_ before me.”

Jack sighed, “I told you about him.”

“You didn’t say it was a _thing_.”

Jack made an annoyed sound, “He’s gone, so why does that matter?”

Nate took a long drink and then asked, “Is that what happens if I don’t sign?”

Jack looked at him for a long moment, not saying anything. Honestly, Nate wasn’t sure what he wanted him to say. He’d never done anything like this, and he wasn’t even sure if he was doing anything _now_ other than a good friend.

“I don’t know.” He finally admitted.

Nate nodded, “Me either. You want to make less depressing use of the hour?”

Jack smirked, unfolding his legs to wrap them around Nate, “Fuck yes.” He leaned in, curling his hands tight in Nate’s hair. “You make the _best_ face when I pull your hair.”

“Fuck you.” Nate couldn’t deny that the sensation really did something for him.

Jack smirked even more, “I’m game.”

~

Sami sat on the back porch, watching the dogs argue over the tennis ball he just threw. He was wrapped in Ben’s robe, his hair still wet from the shower. He had insisted they shower separately, or they’d never make it to Blake’s house on time. Besides that, he wanted some time alone. He was almost never alone, and he wasn’t complaining about that, but he had too many thoughts in his head to talk right then.

Bailey, having bested her little sister, brought the tennis ball back to him. He gave her a quick head scratch as a reward, before throwing the ball again. Because she was further back in the yard, Sohvi had the jump on her and pounced happily on the ball. Bailey barked at her, causing her to take off across the yard, least her prize get stolen again.

Sami sighed deeply. He had just adjusted to saying he _lived_ in the house, and now he was facing the possibility that next season he could be the only one. (Granted if that happened, they probably wouldn’t even _have_ the house, but that was beyond the point.) Whatever happened this summer, life was going to change in a _huge_ way, and it had all happened _really_ fast. From not knowing where he even stood with Ben, to Jacqueline insisting he was part of the family now, wasn’t even a full year. And this summer… _this summer…_

He kept himself busy so it didn’t all catch up to him at once, but he was about to have a _lot_ of down time to think—to overthink _everything._

“There you are.” Ben’s voice snapped him out of his introspection just in time.

He looked up at him with another sigh, “They wanted to get out.” He gestured to the dogs who were still chasing each other for possession of the tennis ball.

Ben sat beside him, “Uh huh. Worried?”

Sami nodded, “Yeah… I should not be?”

It was Ben’s turn to sigh, “I don’t know. Have you decided about Finland?”

He shrugged, “I don’t think there is time.”

“There’s a lot of time between now and July.”

Sami shook his head, “I don’t want to go alone. And we can’t leave her. Especially in _Ontario._ ”

“It’s not like it’s the wilderness. And she’ll have Sam, at least part of the time.”

He made a face at that, “Yes, but she also needs us.”

Ben laughed, “Drilled that into your head, has she?”

Sami nodded, “But she _does_.”

“I know, I know. And next summer, our girl will be old enough to travel…” Ben had been suggesting that for a while, but Sami still wasn’t sure if she’d ever agree to it. That was a year away, though, and he had much more pressing things to worry about.

He looked over to Ben, “Maybe next summer, I will just be glad to see you at all.”

Ben’s shoulders dropped, “Don’t talk like that. We don’t know what’s going to happen.” He wrapped an arm around Sami’s shoulders and Sami gladly buried his face in his neck, “Get dressed so we can go to Blake’s thing. I have a bet with Kevin on who will sneak off to the bathroom first.”

Sami scoffed, “Oh _this_ bet I can know?”

Ben grinned, “Yeah, because you have to help me win it.”

~

“Did Sam leave already?” Blake asked, as he arranged pizza boxes across the dining room table. He had ordered too many, but he figured they’d eat them anyway. He knew from experience that they’d eat almost anything put out for them.

From the kitchen, Mark scoffed, “The _second_ she heard everyone was coming she called Jacqueline. She said she’s not coming back until we clean up after them. _Including_ the bathrooms.”

“Did she take all of them?”

Mark handed him a stack of paper plates, “Yes, but Louie only agreed to go if Patrik will come by and play NHL19 before he leaves for Finland. He said, and I quote, ‘Have Daddy ask him, because Daddy can make him do _anything_ ’.”

Blake burst out laughing, “Well, he’s not wrong.”

Mark rolled his eyes, “That doesn’t work anymore, you know.”

“Are you _very_ sure about that?” He smirked.

Mark sighed, “If Nikolaj punches you, I’m not going to defend you. Because you brought it all on yourself.”

Blake laughed, “If he didn’t punch me during Patty’s rookie year, he’s _never_ going to punch me. I’m not worried.”

“I don’t think it’s in the Captain’s handbook to _encourage_ your teammates to punch you.” Mark pointed out.

Blake put a hand on his hip, “How do you know? It’s part of my brilliant strategy. I’m very close to the teammates that have punched me. Or… had other bodily contact with me, it’s all the same.”

Mark shook his head, “You’re incorrigible.”

“Yeah, but I’m cute.” Blake leaned in to kiss him but was cut off by the sound of the doorbell.


	2. Chapter 2

Predictably, Nikolaj and Patrik were the last to arrive, so late that most of the pizza was gone. No one missed the 29 emblazoned on the shoulder of Nikolaj’s hoodie, or the mark on his neck, but by this point both were to be expected rather than something to mention. Patrik sprawled out on the only remaining portion of couch available. Undeterred, Nikolaj perched on the arm, halfway sitting in Patrik’s lap.

“You really couldn’t give the guy with the fractured leg the couch?” Almost everyone thought it, but Jake was the one to say it out loud. He was draped across an armchair sideways, with his arm lazily wrapped around Andrew, who was perched on the front half of the cushion more interested in the dog in front of him than the man behind him.

Patrik rolled his eyes, “No, because then he bitches at me for _fussing_.”

Sami mumbled something in Finnish under his breath and cast a side-eyed look at Patrik. He was sitting on the floor in front of Ben with a lapfull of Toby. Patrik flipped him off, but he pretended not to notice.

“I know some of those words, and I can verify that was totally deserved.” Ben laughed.

“And that’s another reason,” Patrik pointed out, “You never tried to learn Finnish for me.”

Nikolaj rolled his eyes, “That’s because Finnish sucks.”

“Gonna verify _that_ one, Benny?” Kevin smirked.

Ben gave him a _look_ , “Do I look that stupid?” A beat. “Don’t answer that.”

There were more than a few laughs from the room. The atmosphere was loose enough that the sound seemed to fit, even if there wasn’t much talking.

There weren’t enough proper seats for everyone that showed up, but they made do. Sami happily gave up his seat when the dogs made their appearance. Mark had taken it and was now sandwiched between Ben and Patrik. Jack sat on the coffee table like that was a thing normal people did. Nate had dragged a dining room chair in and was sitting on in backwards and Kevin had followed suit. Adam had claimed one of armchairs and promptly pulled Brandon into his lap. Blake hadn’t sat down yet, playing host, but there was the sense that if he wanted to, anyone could be kicked out of their spot at a moment’s notice.

The only ones that were sitting with any sense of normalcy were Bryan and Kyle, side-by-side on the loveseat. Bryan was in an almost constant state of leaning in to whisper in Kyle’s ear, making him laugh or blush, or both. Neither of them had said anything aloud, but it was clear they were doing a running commentary of everything happening in the room, between themselves.

“Okay, I have to be the asshole that asks, right?” Jake broke the silence. More than a few sets of eyes rolled at that. He was _usually_ the asshole that asked, but that didn’t need to be said. He gestured over to the loveseat, “When did _that_ happen?”

There were a few scattered groans, and someone muttered “Classy.” Maybe more than one someone. But the truth was, most of them were thinking the same thing. Most of them, but not all.

Kyle turned into Bryan’s shoulder and blushed. Bryan wrapped an arm around him, and spoke softly, but not in a whisper, “I told you. You wanted to. You still do?” Kyle nodded and picked his head up. Bryan looked over to Blake and gave him a quick nod.

“ _That_ has been going on all season.” Blake said, matter-of-factly.

Jake shook his head, “No way. I would have noticed. I noticed the rest of them all... up in each other’s faces.” He gestured vaguely to the room.

“You stopped noticing Kyle after the second time he turned you down,” Andrew pointed out.

Jake started to protest and then shrugged, “Maybe. No offence. But I still woulda noticed _that_. I’m _not_ the only one that didn’t notice.”

“I didn’t notice, but I also don’t care who is fucking who, so…” Patrik shrugged.

Nikolaj nodded, “I’ll second the ‘I’m not all up in everyone’s business’.”

“Let me put on my surprised face.” Mark grinned at them, “If you look away from _each other_ for five minutes, you might notice someone else.”

“But _why?_ ” Patrik asked, as if that was _the_ stupidest thing he’d ever heard.

Mark barely suppressed a giggle, “That was _cute_.”  

Patrik rolled his eyes, but also tugged Nikolaj all the way down into his lap. As the years went on, they had really stopped trying to be ‘cool’ about how much they were in love with each other. On ice and off.

“I knew about them.” Jack gestured over to the loveseat.

Jake scoffed, “You don’t count, you’re a nosey little fucker.”

There was a split second of anger that flashed in Nate’s eyes, but it passed quickly, and Blake was probably the only one that noticed. Everyone else had their eyes on Jack, to see if he’d take offence. Most of them had known Jake long enough to know it wasn’t meant as any kind of insult. Jack wasn’t the least bit fazed by the description, but he was one of the few that knew how much he really deserved it coming from Jake.

“ _That’s_ why I knew. Linemates talk about more than just hockey.” Jack gave him a smug smile.

Jake rolled his eyes, “Okay, linemates don’t count. Anyone else?”

“The way our lines got shuffled, that means pretty much just defense ‘counts’.” Bryan pointed out. “I think we’ve played on a line with every forward in this room.”

“ _Clearly_ , we’re the only ones that _should_ count,” Ben chimed in, “And for the record, no, I did not know. But I’m also in the minding my own business squad.”

“ _This_ season.” Blake added, under his breath.

Nate shrugged, “I’m new here, I don’t know shit.”

Kevin nodded, “Not defense, but hard _same_ on that one, Nate.”

“I noticed. But I watch a lot.” Sami tipped his head back to look up at Ben, “He does like you do.”

He raised an eyebrow, “What do I do?”

“Talk a lot on the bench. _They_ talk a lot, with their heads together, and I see them do it. It is obvious, I think.” Sami said, as if it was perfectly natural to notice this kind of thing.

Nate scoffed, “I spent as much time up there as you did, I didn’t notice _that_.”

Sami tisked, “Because you only notice _one_ thing. And then you have to go excuse yourself, like you are sixteen.” He shook his head, biting his lip, “ _Kids_ today.”

Nate rolled his eyes, “I’m gonna fuckin’ smack you.”

Ben tossed him a _look_ , “No, you’re not.”

Nate looked at him for a minute and then over to Jack, “Think I could take him?”

Jack made a so-so gesture, “Normally, I’d say yes, ‘cause you fight good, and he doesn’t fight. I mean have you seen his partner, he doesn’t get a _chance_ to. _But_ you go after Sami… he’ll probably kick your ass.”

“Nah,” Jake scoffed, “I’d still put my money on Nate.”

There was a smattering of discussion on the topic, voice overlapping, until one rose above the noise, “Speaking as the only person in the room that has actually been _punched_ by Benny….” Blake smirked, looking between the two of them, “I’m going to put my money on Nate, too.”

Ben rolled his eyes, “Fuck all of you.”

“And, while we’re already shitting on you. Can I point out you lost _another_ bet?” Kevin gestured to the empty armchair where Adam and Brandon had been sitting.

Ben groaned, “ _Fuck_. That was _fast_. When did they sneak out?”

Kevin shrugged, “Didn’t see ‘em. But I’ve only been here ‘bout two months and I _called_ that.”

“You weren’t here when they were dancing around everything for _years_. And besides these assholes,” Ben gestured over to Patrik and Nikolaj, “Are getting _cute_ in their old age. I didn’t expect _that_.”

“Sucker. Twice over.”

Ben flipped him off, “Fuck you. Besides, we’re not talking about _that_. We were talking about Bryan joining the dark side.”

“I didn’t know it was pick-up-a-rookie season, I’d have gotten my own.” Jake snickered.

Under his breath, Andrew muttered, “You’ve had enough.” And he wasn’t referring to the beer in his hand.

Blake shook his head, “One of these days, Jake, they’re just going to knock your block off. And no one is going to feel bad.”

He grinned, “I should point out, like a good leader, our Captain was _years_ ahead on the pick-up-a-rookie trend.”

There was a low murmur around the room and a very soft, “ _Dude_.” But every eye was on Blake to see how he was going to take that.

A slow smile crossed Blake’s face, “I _know_ you’re still pissed about that. Because I ruined your record. You can’t officially say you’ve slept with _everyone_ on this roster.”

“Can I say something?” It was the first words Kyle had spoken aloud since he’d arrived, “He didn’t sleep with me, and I’m _not_ a rookie.”

“Same.” Jack nodded, “Well, about not being a rookie anyway.”

Nate snorted, “ _Smooth_.”

Jack held up his empty beer bottle in salute, “I try.”

“Okay, we either need more or less to drink, because we’re at the weird place where the lightweights are stupid and the rest of us have to listen to it.” Ben pointed out. “And I vote more. Someone needs to show Kevin where the liquor cabinet is. He’s got the frat boy bartender cred.”

“How do _you_ know that?” Jake looked between Ben and Kevin critically.

Ben rolled his eyes, “Because I _talked_ to him. Y’know, that thing you do when you’re _not_ just trying to see how fast you can get their pants off.”

Jake flipped him off but said nothing. The more observant in the room noticed how his arm tightened around Andrew a little more at that. And they noticed how easily that gesture melted the frown right off Andrew’s face. If it was supposed to be an apology, it was probably the only one he’d get. At least in public.

As it turned out, Ben was completely correct. Kevin was a _fantastic_ bartender. As they went through every possible mixer in the house, the conversation around who had slept with who got competitive. Though Jake clearly had a _current_ edge, Blake won over all of Jets history. While this seemed to piss Jake off, it pissed Andrew off even more. But every time he tried to get up, Jake just tightened his hold and whispered something in his ear that made him relax back into him. Eventually the topic faded out into a series of personal conversations strewn around the room.

At some point in the shuffle of drinks, Adam and Brandon rejoined the party, not quite as subtly as they left it. Adam’s hair was a mess and he clearly wasn’t fully settled comfortably in his pants. Brandon’s smirk was entirely too satisfied to be anything near subtle. Ben shot them a dirty look before retaking his seat, handing Sami his glass.

“It wasn’t _his_ bathroom, this time.” Adam’s voice wasn’t the whisper he thought it was. Brandon just shrugged.

Patrik tipped his head back, “He’s pissed because you’re hornier than me and Nik.”

Adam looked between Patrik and Ben and groaned, “They _bet_ on this, didn’t they?”

From behind him, Kevin’s voice was loud and clear, “Hell yeah we did, and thank you for being horny.” He had clearly already sampled a few of his own mixes.  “Drinks are up here.”

Brandon looked over to Ben, “Why’d you bet against us?”

Ben scoffed. He’d already had a few ‘samples’ of Kevin’s handiwork and he was sipping on another one, “ _They’ve_ fucked in _everyone’s_ house already.” He gestured to Patrik and Nikolaj with his middle finger. “You didn’t get it on in _my_ bathroom, I figured you wouldn’t _here_ either.”

“He’s afraid of Jaqueline.” Adam blurted out.

“Fair enough.” Ben laughed, “But if you didn’t clean up after yourselves here, I’d be _way_ more afraid of Sam. She’s _creative_ when she wants to get back at you.”

Adam tipped his head to the side, “Personal experience?”

“Yes, and I’m not telling you the story. Go get your drinks.” Ben shooed them off.

Nate had been watching the whole exchange and now leaned towards Ben from the chair he was still straddling, “I’ve wanted to ask you something all season—okay, for two months, but it _seems_ like all season.”

Ben looked over to him with a snort, “Yeah.” It wasn’t phrased as a question, and that threw Nate off.

“Huh?” He blinked at him.

Ben laughed, “You’re gonna ask me if we met before. You wanted to ask the first day you got here.”

“ _Fuck_.” Nate narrowed his eyes at him, as if that was going to help his memory.

Ben shook his head, “How the hell did you guys play as _drunk_ as you were most of the time?”

Nate laughed, “We weren’t ever drunk for games, sometimes hungover, but never drunk. You got used to it, I guess.”

Ben laughed, “You seriously have no memory of the AHL?”

Nate groaned, “Fuck, the whole thing is a blur. But I totally woulda gone for you. I did, didn’t I?”

Ben nodded, “You remember a game when you scored twice? That couldn’t have happened often.”

Nate’s eyes went wide, “ _That_ was you? You boarded me. And you _apologized_ after the game.”

“ _That_ was me.”

Nate was just staring at him, “Oh fuck, and that three assist game. Right?”

Ben laughed, “Glad I made an impression.”

“I can’t believe _that_ was _you_. I remember _that_. You were _good_. Zach said you were. Too bad I didn’t know that was you, I woulda told him I already knew that.”  

“Thank you.” Ben raised an eyebrow, “Did he really say that?”

“Yeah, he said you were a good time, but not more than that.” Nate’s eyes slid down to Sami, who had been leaning against Ben’s leg with his eyes closed through that whole conversation. “I told him he needed an update on that info.”

Ben laughed, brushing Sami’s hair out of his face, “Well, this is fairly new.” He looked up at Nate, “What about you?”

Nate gave him a confused look, “What _about_ me?”

Ben glanced over to Jack, who was deep in some drunken debate with Andrew, and back to Nate, “It’s not as bad as you might think.”

Nate shrugged, “Maybe not if I stay, but if I go?”

Ben sighed, “I’ve been thinking about that _a lot_.” His hand gently worked through Sami’s hair as he spoke, “Even if I go…” He took in a slow breath, “The random hook-ups are okay, but it’s _worth_ skipping that to have someone that… _cares_ what I’m doing and what’s happening to me. I’ve never been in love before him. And I wouldn’t be telling you this if I was sober. But it’s just the best goddamn thing. And if that’s calling him after my game instead of seeing him, I’ll deal with it, because I just fucking _need_ him in my life.” He looked down and was surprised to see Sami’s eyes open.

He smiled, looking up at him through his eyelashes, “You tell me _that_ thing too.”

Ben glanced over to Nate, “Think about it.” He then turned his full attention on Sami and helped him messily climb into his lap, before wrapping an arm around him to keep him from falling. “It’s going to be _fine_ , kulta, no matter what.” He slid a hand into his hair to pull him into the kind of kiss they probably should have snuck off to the bathroom to share. But both of them were too drunk to care.

Nate took his cue and untangled himself from his chair. He was a few steps from Jack when he was intercepted.

Jake put a glass into his hand and asked, “Do you give a shit about Michigan or Ohio?”

Nate didn’t bother asking what was in the glass, he just took a drink from it. “Second generation French-Canadian.”

“Then don’t go over there.” Jake shook his head and it nearly knocked him off balance, “Yours and mine’re doing that Michigan-Ohio thing that’s boring as all fuck.” He took another look at him, “Do you speak French?”

Nate couldn’t help but groan at the question, “Not really. I sucked at it in Montreal. I am a _shame_ to my name and the jersey ‘cause I don’t. Had a fan tell me that. I _do_ know how to say ‘go fuck yourself’ in French.”

“That’s useful,” Jake’s drunk laugh was much more of a giggle than he’d like to admit, “How do you say it?”

“ _Va te faire foutre_.” Nate’s French might have been non-existent conversationally, but he could put the correct accent on _that_ swear. It had found a lot of use during his Candien days.

Jake blinked a few times, “That sounds hot.”

Nate laughed, “You _would_ think getting told to fuck yourself is hot.” He took another drink from the glass, “Since when are they yours and mine?”

Jake shrugged, “Got less stupid lately. Guess it’s all the thinking ‘bout _leaving_. Thought you mighta, too There’s a lotta that going around.”

Nate finished the drink in his glass and handed it back to Jake without replying. Jake gave him a shrug and headed over to the counter that had been designated the bar. Nate watched him for a moment and then turned his attention to the messy argument happening a few feet from him.

Jake sat at the counter, opposite where Kevin was staring intently at his phone. The sound of the glass clinking against the marble got his attention. Kevin didn’t ask what he wanted, he just started mixing.

“Which one was it?” Jake asked, gesturing to his phone.

Kevin gave him a surprised look, “What?”

Jake pointed to his phone again, “Which one? Me and Andrew play ‘guess which one’ when you stare at the phone like that. We don’t get much cross-team around here, so it’s fun.”

“Serious? How do you even _know_ which there’s ones to guess?” Kevin was sober enough to know that those words weren’t in the right order and drunk enough not to care.

Jake shrugged, “Word gets around.” He took a long drink from the glass in front of him. He was pretty sure it was straight alcohol, but at that point, he didn’t really care.

“Bullshit.”

Jake peered into the glass, trying to figure out what he was drinking. It was a vague gold color, but he couldn’t place any of the ingredients. With a shrug, he took another sip. “I know your people.”

Kevin just stared at him, “You knew my people all this time and didn’t say anything?”

Jake shook his head, “I got told I couldn’t tell you. Which I didn’t just do.”

Kevin snickered, “Right, you didn’t tell me shit. Who do you know?”

“I have USDPeople.”

Kevin groaned, “That is the stupidest fucking thing I have _evah_ heard.”

“It’s not as stupid as how hard your accent goes when you’re drunk.” Jake downed the rest of his drink and clattered the glass back down.

Kevin rolled his eyes, “Fuck you. So… you know Brady?”

“Yeah, couple years.”

Kevin looked at him for a minute and then put his focus on mixing them both another drink, “You fuck him?” His tone way _far_ too casual for the correct answer to be anything other than ‘no’.

Jake shook his head, “Don’t think so.”

Kevin stopped mid-pour, “You’d remember.”

He shrugged, “Then I guess not. I had a lot going on back then.”

“With him?” Kevin gestured across the room.

Jake didn’t follow his gesture, he didn’t have to, “Yeah, with him, and someone else.”

“At the same time?”

Jake laughed, “Oh fuck no. Andrew would _never_.”

Kevin shrugged and picked up his glass. The beep of his cellphone took his attention. Jake picked up on the cue, took his drink, and wandered back over towards the argument in the corner.

Meanwhile across the room, on the loveseat, what was probably the most sober conversation was taking place. Now that Bryan had no reason to keep his hands to himself, he wasn’t. Kyle was sitting as close to him as he could be, and Bryan’s hand hadn’t stopped moving for long. “Are you okay now that they know?”

Kyle smiled at that, “Of course. It was never about them knowing or not knowing. I just… I didn’t want to share this with them, I wanted to keep it for us. Some of them get so… _into_ people’s relationships and I just wanted us to figure out what it was by ourselves.”

Bryan leaned in to kiss his cheek, “And have we done that?”

“Mmhmm.” He pulled Bryan’s arms tighter around himself, resting his head on his shoulder, “When you told me you loved me.”

Bryan smiled, “You know I loved you long before I actually said it, right?”

Kyle nodded, “Me too, but it had to be the right time. You picked a good one.”

“Not too dramatic?” Bryan laughed.

Kyle blushed, “Well, at least you waited until the game was over.”

“If I had been out there with you when you scored the third one, I would have told you right then.” He leaned his head down to whisper, “I’ll do that for your next one.”

Kyle picked his head up to look at him, smiling. They didn’t know what the summer would bring, but they had both decided to stay optimistic. “Maybe _I’ll_ do it for _yours_.”

Bryan laughed and pulled him into a sweet kiss, reveling in the fact Kyle was finally comfortable doing that in front of their teammates.

Mark managed to escape the couch area before everyone around him lost complete track of the fact they were still _somewhat_ in public. He wandered out to the kitchen to start the clean-up process. It wasn’t that he wanted to, but he had to do _something_ to keep himself busy. Too much downtime meant too much thinking about how many of _them_ wouldn’t be coming back.

When Blake put his hands over his eyes, it didn’t even startle him. He knew he’d find him eventually. Mark turned around to look at him. What Adam had said in the locker room came floating back into his mind. They _didn’t_ have to worry about next year. That didn’t mean they weren’t still worrying. Blake didn’t say a word, just read his expression and wrapped him in his arms. He closed his eyes, pressing against him.

They’d be okay. They’d _all_ be okay. Somehow.


End file.
